Influencing isn’t a new thing…

The dangers of following social media influencers: Influencing isn’t a new thing,  it’s always been around us in some form. It might have been just family, close friends, a few adverts, recommendations via word-of-mouth and so on.

However, with the explosion of technology – especially mobile phones, globally popular apps and more recently the arrival of online influencers for those who can afford it there is almost limitless information and services available on demand. As a result, particularly among the younger generation, the way that influencing / advertising and marketing reaches people has changed.

Before we dive into more detail, here is a Christian perspective from John Piper that we need to keep in mind at all times regarding the good side of influence:

Influence is not wrong. Seeking to influence others is very Christian. (John Piper on Instagram, Superficiality, and Online Fame)

You can argue there are influencers in the Bible – such as Moses, David, Paul and the gospel authors among others – but the internet, which we are focusing on in this article, did not exist in Bible times!

So, while influence itself is not wrong, as John Piper (and others) rightly point out, it remains that the ability to reach supermassive audiences with all kinds of content (whether good or bad) and influence them is a relatively recent development and has already become  deeply embedded into society.

Through the internet, influence can be more subtle or bold, manipulative and more powerful than before. On top of this, the ability to track people’s habits and identify trends on an individual level means targeting people with content they are most likely to respond to has become much easier. In addition there is more competition and consumers of content are being pulled in more and more directions. Equally content creators are under pressure to constantly innovate and update to continue being noticed.

Some influencers may not even be fully aware of the extent to which they are part of the deception and potentially false impression of real life that often pops up on social media. They will be attracted to the high earnings they can achieve simply by the way they ‘act’ online (as opposed to recording their normal life), the way they look as well as their attitude and what they are saying in front of the camera.

 

In this article we are looking at the dangers of following social media influencers. Click to jump to a new section:

    Influencers influenced by influencers…

    One irony is that of influencers influenced by influencers. When a person sees another person becoming popular and wealthy, they will seek to emulate that in some way – they have been influenced into thinking that they can also do the same to influence others. Of course, in reality it isn’t so easy, and for some the pressure to try and be famous in the same way as others can be demoralising and have a negative impact on mental wellbeing.

    Are you an influencer without really knowing it?

    Influencers are not just those that are influencers as their full-time career or because they are a famous pop star or actor.

    Although the famous and established influencers in media and advertising are probably the first thing most people would think of in reality it is the countless other influencers working away just by the regular blogs or social media content they create. This is often on a specific or niche topic of interest to them personally which makes it more authentic. Many are very helpful, positive and completely harmless but there are also others that are dangerous misleading, false and even deadly.

    In reality an influencer can be anyone who is creating specific content about a specific subject. Here at Christian Web, we hope are perhaps influencing and helping you regarding issues around Christians and Christianity through our articles and information.

    If you create and publish content in any form, then doesn’t that give you the potential to influence others through your content? Are you, therefore, an influencer?

    The dangers of following social media influencers -knowing someone only from a distance and without the heart or emotion

    Perhaps the reason that many people don’t see an issue with influencers is that they will often choose to follow someone because they simply show you things and talk to you in the way that you want to hear and therefore connect with.

    This is in a world where data and analytics is king. They connect with you (at a very superficial level) either because they share a common interest, feeling or opinion with you or because the data and analytics have matched you together (a data driven ‘relationship’).

    This is another aspect of the influencer deception. As Christians, we know that relationships and friendship with real people are a critical part of life and there is a unique emotional connection with matters of the heart, not just the mind. Social Media often removes a foundational part of relationships – the emotional deep connection of friendship and relationship and interaction stripping it down just to data, analytics, common interest, a level of empathy through to psychological manipulation.

    You can ‘know’ someone, be influenced by what they say and do without connecting with them on a deeper and much more personal level. This immediately reduces the ability to judge whether a person is genuine or even believes what they are saying themselves, or actually living out what they are speaking. They can show you something that doesn’t look or sound achievable (and ultimately possibly isn’t), and you’ll accept it because you hear it and see it without that critical extra layer of connections – emotional, spiritual or indeed deep trust developed over a long time and context. This is because social media context stands often in a moment of time, not necessarily surrounded by, or framed within a bigger picture – unlike a face-to-face friendship or relationship with someone you have known for many years or in a bigger overall context with history to fall back on and fact-check.

    The ‘promises’ of an influencer and the power of persuasion…

    ‘If you buy this…’ you can be like me…(and my fake life, not my real life), ‘if you do this you too will have that like me…(my fake life for the camera, not necessarily my real life). There are known psychological ways to persuade people to react or take an action that they may not be ready for, or may not have intended to before. This power of persuasion can be acutely magnified when a social media influencer works hard to build a foundation of trust with their audience. This can also be one of the things that can trigger an influencer to almost instantly lose everything they’ve built up.

    It’s also bad for the influencers themselves

    As you might imagine losing everything overnight can be difficult to deal with. So, let us not forget the potential negative impact for influencers themselves in terms of what a successful life looks like. Often the goal of  influencers is to gain as many followers as possible and / or make as much money as possible. What happens when it all goes wrong?

    The cost of being an influencer – keeping up appearances is hard work

    More and more you hear of influencers who are experiencing mental health issues, a few of which have sadly ultimately ended their lives as a result. This can be due to any number of reasons such as the pressures of keeping up, fake and unrealistic appearances, always needing to be in character and look a particular way, making sure they say particular things. Just one misinformed post could spell disaster.

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    No firm foundations – you can lose it all in the blink of an eye…

    No doubt there is also pressure on paid  influencers to deliver great content all the time and make good returns on the advertisers investments – the pressure will exponentially increase as the reach, value and frequency of content becomes more in demand – often from multiple different sources. Influencing may look like a dream job, and for a very few, perhaps it is (although they obviously don’t care about the potential damage they are doing to others as they enjoy their money).

    For any influencer they create a life where the main purpose is to build an audience and maintain it. There is no security in it. At any point, people can simply choose to unfollow them or no longer interact, then the sponsors and advertisers will vanish as quickly as they arrived. Social media followers are different to real-life friends – followers  don’t have the same loyalty / heart / emotional connection and attachment.

    Having a Christian world view on the dangers of following social media influencers can help in understanding the importance of knowing how to keep safe online, regularly fact-checking and not simply accepting everything we see and read. On top of that, it is important to align influencers lifestyle, content and philosophy against Jesus’ words and the Bible’s teaching, wisdom and world view. But above all, a firm Christian foundation, rooted in faith and belief in God, through Jesus, revealed by the words in the Bible and inspired (and influenced) by the Holy Spirit equips us with insight and context to better navigate the whole online digital world. We believe the principles and wisdom in the Bible are just as relevant for today’s world as they have been throughout the rest of history. It is just that the world we live in has changed over time, but the same basic human needs and longings remain (both good and bad).

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    The dangers of following social media influencers – How can the Bible help us?

    As Christians we know that all that modern influencing (advertising) in the digital age is far, far removed from a Biblical world-view. And this is NOT because the Bible is out-of-touch or out dated. In fact it is quite the opposite. Influencing others is a huge responsibility – pastors and leaders of any kind will tell you that. Influencers are leaders, but they are often leading people down a path towards potential destruction (yes, it is that bad).

    To illustrate this, let’s pause to look at the 10 commandments – because most people know the 10 commandments even if they are not religious. Let’s relate the commandments it the potential results of today’s internet influencers:

    1. You shall have no gods before me.
    How many times have you watched a video or read a post that includes sentences like this – ‘Look at this, it’s so great, I use it every day. If you do the same as me you’ll be as good as me and people will want to be your friend and hang out with you…’

    2 You shall not make any idols to worship.
    This product or person’s message will change your life if you use it regularly. It has changed mine in this way so dramatically I don’t know how I lived without it before. (Often the adverts are much more subtle than this, but the same message).

    3 You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain.
    The language used by some of the ‘influencers’ speaks for itself.

    4 Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
    Social media is available every minute of every day, 365 days a year including Sundays.

    5 Honour your father and your mother.
    Some of the worst so-called ‘influencers’ are seriously damaging relationships of all kinds, including relationships with parents. For example arguments ensue over things such as when children are banned from social media, or not allowed to do or buy the things they see on social media.

    6 You shall not kill.
    Our prayer and hope would always and obviously be that this is never, ever the case. With regards to influencing websites, again some of the worst that are watched include such information about how to build and use weapons and some ‘influencers’ include other very dangerous activities such as extreme parkour. There is also the direct responsibility of influencing people’s mental health over a period of time. If the influence has a negative affect, it could lead to thoughts of suicide.

    7 You shall not commit adultery.
    It seems that some influencers feel the need to show more of themselves than is necessary in order to attract extra attention, and then there are websites set up specifically for the purpose of sexual activity. Enough said.

    8 You shall not steal.
    For this one, it is both sides – the influenced and the influencer. The influencer is often compelling and consistently persuading viewers (directly or indirectly) to buy or try stuff and the influenced may be compelled to, at the very least, borrow money that they don’t have and can’t pay back to access content or buy something beyond their means.

    9 Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness against Thy Neighbour
    It is a big responsibility for anyone not to bear false witness to others. Of course, many influencers themselves are not deliberately setting out to sell a lie. The process of influencing is often subtle and over an extended time, but influencers’ content can easily cross into this commandment over a time-period presenting unrealistic goals or false lifestyle.

    10 Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbour’s Goods
    This one is a consequence which can be either direct or indirect to the power of influencing. Seeing the supposed life that is portrayed, or benefits of a product can cause a person to crave the same.

    …so you can see how it is possible for every single one of the 10 commandments to be ignored or broken. The 10 commandments are an absolute basic line of moral standards. In reality, living life should be much more than just these basic morals.

    This is just one example of the wisdom contained in the Bible. If you want to know more about how to live the Christian life, you can read about Jesus’ examples and the early church in the New Testament of the Bible. Jesus took the 10 commandments and extended the understanding so Christians can be equipped to live in a world where anything is permissible but not everything is beneficial (1 Corinthians 10:23).

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    Are there any positives for influencers and influencing?

    That all depends on the motivation, message, content, aims and outcomes. Simple as that. Of course, there are thousands and thousands of good, well-meaning, wholesome and positive influencers trying to make a positive difference in some way. Sadly, these influencers may be more likely to experience negativity themselves from the harsh, unforgiving social media world. Such experiences can really affect an individual’s wellbeing.

    Without a seriously reliable filter to identify positive, uplifting, emotionally-connecting, helpful, informative, true, authentic, realistic and accurate information, then in that case perhaps influencing does’t have a lot of value outside of money making and being noticed by thousands of unknown strangers for those involved. Most of us will by now will probably have stumbled across more than one hollow, shallow superficial, extreme or dangerous influencer.

    The ability to discern what is right and true and helpful coupled with any advice or information that helps to discern the truth and reality is vitally important.

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    In conclusion…

    Don’t believe everything you read and see and be mindful of all you read and see.

    Think very carefully about whether you might be being influenced by something without realising it. Ask yourself sensible questions like is watching this going to help me? How is this going to encourage me? What is the point in me watching this? Should I be watching this? Why have I been served this advert or video? Do I need this in my life? Is this person telling the truth? Is this person selling me a lie?

    As technology and information-gathering intensifies, it is going to get harder to discern good from bad. On top of that, artificial intelligence (AI) is going to muddy the waters more and more as time progresses. Time will tell in terms of the impact it will truly have.

    Right now, for example, people can even pay to be able to interact with a completely AI generated boyfriend or girlfriend. This takes a step closer to removing the human to human  interaction that is so core to human life and well-being. Along with many other things, that is a conversation for another time.

    We have included below some links to helpful sites – both Christian and secular – that include information about the issue of influencers, social media and staying safe.

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    Books from the UK Christian Web bookshop about social media and the internet

    Further reading for A Christian perspective on influencers the internet and social media

    John Piper on Instagram, Superficiality, and Online Fame – John piper

    The top ten female Christian influencers you should follow (in 2024) – Woman Alive Magazine

    Gen Z Has Questions. Apologetics Provides Answers – The Gospel Coalition

    How to Be a Christian Influencer Worthy of the Name – Christian Today

    How can Christians use social media to positively influence their community? – BibleChat.ai

    How smart phones and social media are changing religion – BBC

    Talk With Your Kids About Online Safety – Focus on the Family

    Staying Safe Online – Childline

    Online Safety and Advice Resources – Internet Watch Foundation

     

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    Have we missed something?

    If you know of another website or information which would be appropriate for this section, please contact us with details.

     

    Header photo by Ugur Akdemir on Unsplash
    Mobile phone photo by Liza Summer